Flowerboy

h o m e

Danny had been numb for a very long time. After losing everybody, he felt everything simultaneously and deeply. Grief, regret, relief, love, and loss, all at once. Danny’s emotions inundated his mind and when they washed away, they took his spirit with them. Neither exhaustion or upset adequately described the profound emptiness that Danny now lived with. He had finally learned how to cope with death, but no longer knew how to value life.

Jacob stepped out of the Dionysus cabin and into the warm sunlight. The only article of clothing currently on their body was a pair of silk pink panties despite having a shirt and skirt in hand. They fit rather snug and given how happy the young demigod looked at the moment – they had served their purpose of getting him laid. After a few minutes of basking in the sun, he pulled on his shirt before glancing over at the feeling of someone watching him. Jacob tilted his head up in greeting before pulling on his skirt. “Hows it going? You enjoying the sunlight too?”

Having lived at camp for the majority of his life, Danny liked to believe he had seen most of the antics people pulled on these grounds. Yet, he had to admit that the sight of Jacob displaying himself proudly in the quad in just a pair of panties was certainly a novel one. “The sunlight? Yeah, the sunlight is nice.”

Ashton was tending to the memorial garden, pulling at the weeds and growing new flowers. When she heard footsteps behind her, she jumped, turning quickly, it was the first thing she went to the minute she got back. “Holy fluff, you scared me!”

Danny smiles. “Sorry.” He holds out his arms for a hug. “Forgive me?”

Rae sat at the campfire, texting away on her phone and not paying attention to anything around her. If it wasn’t her brother asking the question, anyone else’s voice might’ve not even gotten her attention. She looked up immediately and grinned, spotting the marshmallows in his hand. “I can’t really say no to marshmallows.” She bounced up and moved to sit next to him, “Thanks.” Rae took a marshmallow and ripped it in half, eating one part of it first.

Danny gives Rae a squeeze when she sits beside him. He plucks a marshmallow from the bag and turns it in fingers, watching the impressions of his fingertips melt away from the plush surface. “Apparently these are fat-free.”

“Yeah, it kind of, uh—” Danny shrugs. “It just happens. Everywhere I go.” Danny lifts his foot to reveal small green heads poking out from the soil. “See?”

Victoria smiled. “Victoria,” she introduced. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m guessing Hecate cabin?”

“This is me offering.” Danny puts the bag in Declan’s lap and sits at the next bench. “Sorry about the graham crackers and chocolate.”

“Uh–” Jesse glanced over his shoulder to check if Danny was speaking to someone behind him, and then nodded quickly, the tips of his ears turning pink when he realized it was him being addressed. “Sure. Thanks, Dan-ny?” He broke the name into two parts, his voice going up at the end as though unsure if the other camper’s name had changed since the last time he saw him.

“You’re wel-come?” Danny hands over the package.

“I’d like to think everyone stays a kid. It makes life a bit easier.”

“That’s a good way of thinking.” Danny gives her a smile and perches on a bench. “I’m Danny, by the way.”

Danny laughs at the threat, relating strongly. “I’m good. They’re all yours.” Danny sits at a nearby bench, lounging back onto his palms. His eyes fall to the exposed soil by the fire, where, in the grooves of his footprints, small daisies have begun to bloom.

Victoria smiled as she watched. “Lemme guess, Demeter kid?” she questioned. Victoria was new to the whole all year ordeal, she had been a summer camper and then the war happened and decided she needed to be there all the time, to help put her second home back together. Though Victoria never really had the chance to meet a lot of the campers.

“Demeter is right. Though I don’t know if I still count as a kid.”

Ben was unsure if he found Danny’s presence or the fact that Danny was talking to him more surprising. He stared for a second too long, then shook his head. “I’m not.”

“Hm.” Danny lets his arm drop to his side. "Me neither.” Reminding himself to breathe steady, he circles the campfire toward Ben. Gesturing to the spot beside Ben, he inquires, “Is that seat taken?”

“No, are you ready for this?” Victoria asked, with a raise of her eyebrows. She concentrated hard on the marshmallow, making it levitate into the fire, it was a few moments though before she couldn’t hold it long and it fell into the fire. She smiled slightly before looking at Danny. “Okay maybe I do need that stick.”

Danny laughs and walks toward a nearby tree. “If you were Frodo, you’d be solid.” As he reaches up, a long branch erupts from the trunk and shoots into Danny’s grip. He snaps a slender branch off the new arm and returns it Victoria. “Here you go.”

Cyrus had found a seat at the campfire with his earbuds in, bobbing his head to the music that played through them. He only looked away from the crackling flames when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He plucked a earbud out and let them hang. “Yeah, always,” Cyrus grinned upon hearing and seeing the proposed marshmallows and dug his hand into the bag, grabbing a few for himself to munch on. “Thanks, man,” He said before popping one into his mouth. He chewed for a moment and then questioned: “D’ya have the rest of the ingredients for s’mores hiding somewhere? Or are you just teasing me with the marshmallows?” He joked, with the same smile still.

Danny walks over and hands him the bag. “I guess I’m teasing you,” he laughs. “Sorry.”

“Oh my Gods, yes! I love marshmallows. I still am very confused how they’re a fat free food.” 

“Uh, yeah, beats me.” Danny laughs and tosses the pack to Victoria. “Do you need a stick or something?”